A/N: Uwah! Thank you for all the great reviews! X3 I'm glad so many people like it! Chapter two is here, so I hope I've done well again. Please review? You can have a virtual cappuccino… :3
If I owned Naruto, I wouldn't allow the English dubs to suck so badly. X.x''
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A Tall Cappuccino with a Dash of Yaoi
TWO
For it being his first day, Deidara wasn't doing too badly at it. He maneuvered through the brewers deftly, and Sasori was stunned to be holding his drink so quickly in his hand. The blonde smiled at him nervously, "Umm. I hope I did okay, un."
Ah. That shy smile caught him off guard. What the hell was up with that? "Oh…it should be fine. Thank you…" he nodded, and went to rejoin Konan. With his free hand, he rubbed an eye. Of course it was just because he hadn't had his daily Starbucks…
The coffee police were waving their guns in his face, telling him he was disoriented and he needed a major shot of caffeine. Sasori didn't like being arrested by the coffee police, so he obediently took a big gulp when he settled into a chair.
"Sooo…! What do you think of him?" Konan leaned over to his side of the circular table, her eyes bright with interest.
Sasori swallowed, sizing up the cappuccino. "Well, he doesn't make a half bad coffee… Hidan might have to watch out in a few months…"
And eyeroll from Konan. "You are such an addict…is coffee all you think about? I meant the kid. You know, the living, breathing human being? Not the drink in your hand…even if that drink is the Nectar of the Gods, don't get me wrong!"
"Nectar of the Gods," Sasori smirked, "Who's the addict here?"
"Oh, would you just shut up and answer me?"
The red head mopped up a dribble trickling down the side of his cup and licked his finger. "Um. Well, he doesn't seem like the type to want to blow up his art school…"
"Pshhh, you haven't talked to him long enough, clearly." Konan tittered, nearly spilling the frappuccino at her side. "The boy loves explosions…but he wasn't setting it off maliciously…okay, well, hm. It was sort of… Ah, I don't know, you'll have to ask him what happened yourself. Ha…he's an interesting little bastard."
"Yeah, you said that." Several times, which really made the puppeteer curious. This particular Starbucks was a haven for characters, and characters were the only ones who could fit in with the mismatched family there. Maybe that was why other new employees never lasted longer than about a week.
Well, maybe Hidan's threats could've had something to do with it, too… If they messed up too many times, he could get quite colourful.
Ha ha.
Yeah.
The poor last girl…ah, that was one brutal tongue lashing. Sasori had been lucky (or was it unlucky?) enough to have been there for that…it wasn't really pretty, no.
"Oh, here comes Kisame-kun. Is that a frappuccino? Well, isn't that manly…" Konan waved, and the other regular meandered over to their table.
"You've got a new staff guy…?" Kisame asked, looking back over his shoulder.
"His name is Deidara." Sasori offered, liking the way the blonde's name sounded as it rolled off his tongue.
"Really…"
Konan, growing bored of the subject, interjected. "Dude, you're drinking an effing frappuccino? I'm having one…you do know how unmanly that is? For somebody who likes to show off his big ass sword at conventions, you aren't looking so tough right now."
"Samehada is authentic, don't make fun of it!" he pouted, looking down at his coffee, "And it's hot. It's way too hot, so I'm allowed to have this…"
Sasori sighed, restraining himself from giggling, "Konan, stop picking on him…it's not nice."
"Awww, but he's so much fun to poke."
"Please, Konan-san, he's quite fragile, really…" Itachi appeared from nowhere, melting right up to Kisame, toting a latte. "Still, I find it sort of cute."
My my, Itachi said the word cute?!" Konan repeated in shock, "This is new…"
Sasori listened vaguely as they talked back and forth, his soothing coffee shop soundtrack. He lifted his sketchbook from his bag as their voices played in the background. When he had them chiming in his ears, he often drew the best designs for his puppets. There was comfort in this place, a comfort he could never find in his empty, lonely apartment or in his art school. Here, it just felt like a home. Until he'd first walked in these doors, Sasori had never felt the security of a true home, one with people who he could feel safe with. A quirky bunch of people, but they were a small shaft of sunlight in his dark world.
"Konan-san, un?"
"Aha, here's our Deidara now," the blue haired girl rose, stretching her arms. "Is my break over already? Here, talk to these dudes. You'll be seeing them in here a lot." She paused, reevaluating. "Umm. A very, very lot, actually. Anyway, later! I've got coffee to serve!"
She swung her sweatshirt over her shoulder and plopped her empty cup in a trash can on her way back to the counter.
Augh.
Always such cool exits. Konan was the queen of cool exits…perhaps that's why Pein liked her as he did.
"Actually, Kisame and I need to go now if we're going to catch that train…"
"Oh, um…see you, then?" Sasori paused his drawing, and found himself left with Deidara. Well…might as well try to start a conversation.
"So you're…you're the new kid?"
"Yeah, un. I've known Pein for a while, so he gave me the job, un…" he smiled meekly, "Nowhere else would take me once they found out about the, erm…well, there was an, um, incident ay my old art school, un…" he noticed Sasori's sketchbook, and craned his neck to see. "Can I ask what you're drawing…?"
So, he really was interested in art…! This could be a good addition…maybe; just maybe someone Sasori would be willing to speak to more than only a few words. If art was in his blood, he had to be worth chancing as a deep friend. Art and coffee… Akasuna Sasori knew those two things to be safe ones.
Probably safe even if he had detonated an explosive and been expelled.
Okay, but that was pretty fucking stupid.
"They're designs for puppets…" his voice came alive when he spoke of his puppets. "Since art is best eternal, I—"
"Wait, wait, eternal, un?" Deidara stopped him, "No, it has to be fleeting!"
"Fleeting."
"Yeah, un. Like an explosion!"
Aha. So there was the reason. He was a not-so-closet pyromaniac.
"Art should last forever, so everyone can see it…"
"Meh, whatever you say." Deidara shook his head, but still smiled, his eyes alight with dancing flames like in his fireworks. "But you know, un…"
"Hm?"
"Even though your opinion on art sucks, I think I might like it here, un!"
And the competition was sparked, without them even having to say it. It brewed like coffee, warming up.
Sasori drained his tall cappuccino, watching Deidara imitate one of his blasts with flailing arms, and wondered what the flavor of his next coffee would be.
Now that this interesting Deidara was here, he couldn't be sure.
